"Miss" Congeniality: Paul Abbott on Hit & Miss

A transgender hit man (Chloë Sevigny) who discovers she has an
eleven-year-old son in Yorkshire. With a top line like
that, Hit And Miss, Sky Atlantic's first
home-grown commission (beginning this month),
couldn't not be a Paul Abbott show. The Lancashire writer's
neglected upbringing has proved fecund ground for an award-hogging
run of controversy-courting British - and now American - TV
smashes. Shameless. State Of
Play. Clocking Off: after all
those, GQ asked Abbott how much strangeness is
left to plunder? (Spoiler: plenty).

Sky.com

GQ: You met
a real hit man once when you looked into having your father taken
out. Are they much different from screen depictions?Paul Abbott: You just end up with a little slurry-voiced
Scouser going, "Would you like two for the price of one?" I was
disgusted with myself. Actually [for Hit And Miss] I was a
bit worried about my Google history: I was looking up operations of
pre-to-post transvestites, and the advantages and disadvantages of
doing close combat with a rifle.

Hit And Miss is extremely high concept. Where
did it spring from? I had two projects in my head: one about a hit man,
another about a transsexual cleaner taking over a family. I tried
both of them separately, but they just turned out like they said on
the tin - and they bored me. Then I realised I could safely slam
the two together, and I'd met the writer [Sean Conway] who could
get that done. He has a brain like a planet, just effortless
imagination.

And you've returned again to the theme of unorthodox
family life. I wasn't aware I had until I just described it to you.
They're the same themes because I think that's what I know in my
chest. I loved not having parents.

The main character, Mia, escapes from her family - were
you ever minded to do that? Did I want to escape? I once ran away from home for a
week. I went about three and a half miles away and babysat for a
woman who was going to visit her husband who worked on the rigs.
Abbotts are brilliant with babies, I loved it. But I was 13 and the
baby was far too young for me - 15 months or so. When I got home
they slapped me round the head and said, 'You didn't wash up this
morning'. I thought there'd be detectives; I thought I'd have to
answer to the papers. But not a thing.

Mia's child, like you, lacks parents. I was really nervous when I had children because I didn't
know what to do. I didn't have any role models. Whenever I'm
writing parents it's my weakest point because I have to write my
hardest - I don't feel like one. My son is the father I never asked
for.

Hit & Miss is out on DVD and Blu Ray from 2 July from
Fremantle Media.